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Chandra Law Blog

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Just before the 2018 midterm elections, the Department of Health and Human Services leaked a memo from March 2018 about defining “sex” under federal law to restrict Americans to their designated gender at birth.
Our...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Ohio’s Public Records Act, Ohio Rev. Code § 149.43, requires public offices to provide access to its records. Ohio’s “sunshine law” is among the most liberal in the nation, requiring that records be provided swiftly...

Whistleblowers

CLEVELAND, OHIO – On Friday, October 5, the City of Cleveland agreed to pay whistleblower Abdul Malik-Ali an additional $425,000, plus increased wage compensation of $3,210 per year, to settle a federal...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

On September 28, 2018, the Cuyahoga County Council passed an ordinance amending the county’s anti-discrimination policies to prohibit discrimination against members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Effective October 27, 2018, it is illegal...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Chandra Law Firm founding and managing partner Subodh Chandra has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 25th edition of Best Lawyers® in America (2019), for his civil-rights work.
Chandra has also been named as an Ohio Super...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Complaint alleges that white officers arrested a black man for joking with neighborhood children in his yard, falsely accused him of criminal threats, beat him, destroyed evidence of their misdeeds, and bragged about punishing his...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Anthony Novak momentarily celebrates his August 11, 2016 jury acquittal after his criminal trial for mocking Parma police on Facebook. That was before reality set in: he realized that he could still be...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

American justice is built on the promise that anyone accused of a crime has a right to a fair trial. But with disturbing frequency, our criminal-justice system falls short of that bar. Recent local examples can be found in the...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

CLEVELAND, OH - Today, the Eighth District Court of Appeals in Cuyahoga County issued its ruling on the appeal in Cruz v. English Nanny & Governess School. The ruling affirms the trial victory for Plaintiffs Christina Cruz (a former...

Whistleblowers

CLEVELAND, OHIO - Today, Martin Desmond, formerly an assistant prosecuting attorney for Mahoning County, filed a notice of appeal with the State Personnel Board of Review, challenging unlawful, retaliatory actions taken against him by his former...

Whistleblowers

Cleveland, OH - Secretly recorded audio reveals Cleveland Hopkins International Airport airfield-maintenance manager Robert Henderson on January 19, 2017 excoriating his employees and threatening them with retaliation for whistleblowing safety...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

CLEVELAND, OHIO - The Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit Authority (RTA) has paid $45,000 to Jessica Ferrato, in settlement of her lawsuit for being unlawfully assaulted by now-former RTA police officer Jonathan Pacholke in March 2015 as she was...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Canton, OH ― In a victory for Ohio voters and the Ohio Constitution, Ohio 50th District State Representative Christina Hagan (R-Alliance) has belatedly resigned as a member of the presidential Electoral College. The Electoral College is slated...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Despite multiple claims and promises to afford the family appropriate "due process," the City of Cleveland continues to drag its feet in disciplining the officers involved.
On November 22, 2014, Cleveland Police Officers Timothy Loehmann...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

It's Election Day (Tuesday, November 8, 2016). You're excited and ready to go vote for your favorite candidates. And you live in Ohio―your vote couldn't be more important! It may decide the fate of all humanity.
But you get to the polls...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

KENT, OHIO - Today, Lauren Kesterson, a senior at Kent State University, filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of Ohio asking it to order the University to provide public records about how it handled her rape report against a...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Today, the Chandra Law Firm obtained a significant victory in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that will make it more difficult for defendants to engage in abusive litigation tactics against civil-rights plaintiffs and their counsel.
In...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Like all civilized human beings, we at Chandra Law mourn last week's horrifying deadly shootings of police officers in Dallas, Texas following a peaceful protest, and the police-shootings of innocent African-American civilians in St....

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Confidentiality provisions restricting the terms and amount of a settlement are standard in civil cases among private parties. With increasing frequency, however, defendants seek to negotiate broader restrictions that prohibit not only...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

On April 26, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the principle that public employers cannot retaliate against or punish employees for protected speech under the First Amendment. The decision, Heffernan v. City of Paterson, was unique...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Anyone who has ever wondered whether 'tone deafness' is a real thing need look no further than the police union's leadership. Reflecting in a few breaths all that is wrong with Cleveland's police division, Steve Loomis managed to (1) blame the...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

The City of Cleveland has agreed to payment of $6 million to settle the federal civil-rights lawsuit involving the tragic death of Tamir Rice. Although historic in financial terms, no amount of money can adequately compensate for the loss of a...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Trial in the challenge brought by Plaintiffs Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, Columbus Coalition for the Homeless, and the Ohio Democratic Party against state laws that are resulting in thousands of Ohio voters being disenfranchised...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Complaint alleges officer arrested and assaulted Plaintiff without probable cause; RTA suspended officer and placed him on probation for "viola[ting] departmental procedures" and "fail[ing] to control the situation that led to an...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

The Rice family is disturbed by the city's behavior. The callousness, insensitivity, and poor judgment required for the city to send a bill-its own police officers having slain 12-year-old Tamir-is breathtaking. This adds insult to homicide. The...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

CINCINNATI, OHIO—Yesterday, the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling last summer of U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells, of the Northern District of Ohio, that ordered Cleveland Police Officers Brian Kazimer and Dan...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

"That the prosecutor saw to it that the grand jury never took an up-or-down vote on particular potential criminal charges is the ultimate insult to the bereaved Rice family and only underscores the family's concerns that the prosecutor rigged the...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Today, Lucille Dumas, a Cuyahoga County, OH resident, filed a complaint in state court arising from a brutal attack she suffered at the hands of former Cuyahoga County Corrections Officer Madeline Chappell, while Dumas was...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Today, more than a year after Cleveland police shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a grand jury voted not to indict the shooter. Tamir's family is saddened and disappointed by this outcome-but not surprised.
It has been clear for...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Representatives of the mother, sister, and estate administrator of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy whom Cleveland police officers shot and killed in November 2014, wrote to the Department of Justice today formally requesting...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Prosecutor McGinty should recall the officers responsible for 12-year-old Tamir Rice's death back to the grand jury and vigorously cross examine them. Under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, by taking the oath and reading prepared statements to the...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

For the prosecutor to allow police officers who are supposed to be targets of a criminal investigation to submit unsworn statements in response to grand-jury subpoenas requiring live testimony is yet again a stunning irregularity that further...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Today, Samaria Rice and two of her children had the opportunity to tell a grand jury about the horror they experienced on November 22, 2014, when Cleveland police officers rushed upon and shot their beloved son and brother Tamir Rice.

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Counsel for mother of Tamir Rice write Prosecutor McGinty objecting to his unwarranted smear of Ms. Rice; renew request that prosecutor recuse and appoint a special prosecutor-or if he refuses again, at least announce what his...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

CLEVELAND, OHIO — The bereaved mother of the late Tamir Rice, who was 12 years old when he was fatally shot by Cleveland police officers on November 22, 2014, will hold a press conference with her counsel to express dismay at the conduct of...

"The Rice family and Clevelanders have always said that they want the officers who rushed upon and killed 12-year-old Tamir held accountable. The family now believes that the prosecutor's office has been on an 11-month quest to avoid providing...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Counsel for the family of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy shot by Cleveland police on November 22, 2014, have requested that the prosecutor seek a charge of aggravated murder. As explained in the linked letter to the prosecutor

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

CLEVELAND, OHIO - Chandra Law is honored to be a part of the new legal team of Samaria Rice, bereaved mother of Tamir Rice, as well as Tamir's sister, in their pursuit of justice. On November 22, 2014, a Cleveland police officer, Timothy Loehmann...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

CLEVELAND, OHIO - The administrator of the Estate of Tamir Rice has engaged a new legal team as counsel that includes Subodh Chandra of The Chandra Law Firm LLC, and today sought federal-court substitution of this new team. Samaria Rice, Tamir...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Dennis Berg, Director of the Ohio Lottery Commission under Governor John Kasich, has been accused of violating the United States Constitution by racial and gender discrimination against Giavonna (Gia) Evans.
FOR...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Trumbull County Engineer Randy Smith has been the subject of a vendetta by employees aligned with former Engineer David DeChristofaro, who resigned from office in disgrace in connection with a guilty plea for theft in...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Chandra Law can help you frame your Ohio public-records and federal Freedom of Information Act requests to avoid objections. And we can help you enforce your request.
Under Ohio law, with very limited exceptions, government records are...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Public access to government records is a hallmark of a free society. The Chandra Law Firm regularly litigates public-records issues.
Managing partner Subodh Chandra's experience with public-records issues arises from his experience as...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division has released a report finding that the City of Cleveland has been engaged in a pattern and practice of excessive-force violations
Chandra Law, headed by former federal prosecutor and...

Business & Civil Litigation

Sandhya Gupta is a graduate of Columbia Law School and Princeton University. She worked at the New York City office of Arnold & Porter LLP before returning to her hometown of Cleveland.
The Chandra Law Firm, LLC...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Chandra Law Firm client, Professor Raymond Ku of Case Western Reserve University Law School, just appointed to the newly created Center for Cyberspace Law & Policy.
The Chandra Law Firm has been honored, in...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO - East Cleveland Board of Education member Dr. Patricia A. Blochowiak today filed a lawsuit charging violations of Ohio's Open Meetings Act against the East Cleveland Board of Education.
Her suit seeks injunctive...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Earlier in this blog, we linked to news reports that Defendant Lawrence Mitchell, accused of retaliation by a client of the Chandra Law Firm, had resigned from the deanship of Case Western Reserve University's School of Law.
Commentary on...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Case Western Reserve University's Law School Dean, Lawrence Mitchell, has resigned.
The resignation follows a lawsuit filed by The Chandra Law Firm on behalf of Professor Raymond Ku. The suit alleges that Mitchell retaliated against Ku...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Dean and Defendant Lawrence Mitchell of Case Western Reserve University resigns, following the Chandra Law Firm's filing of a lawsuit on behalf of Professor Raymond alleging retaliation, for Ku's reporting, as associate dean, alleged sexual...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

If you have information for the lawyers seeking to help the students in this case, please contact our office at 216.578.1700.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Subodh Chandra or Donald P. Screen
216.578.1700 (o)

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Chandra Law today filed suit to vindicate the rights of Professor and former Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Raymond Ku. Suit was filed against Dean Lawrence E. Mitchell...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Clients' cases, done right, require a great investment of time and resources. We won't compromise the effort required.
Linked is an article from "The Federal Lawyer" by Subodh Chandra reflecting our firm's philosophy on the effort...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Chandra Law Firm Managing Partner Subodh Chandra was appointed today to serve on the Ohio Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. "I am honored to have the opportunity to advise the Commission on shaping...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

AKRON, OHIO - An Akron federal judge on Friday gave his blessing to a global settlement reached in two class-action lawsuits filed against the Akron Beacon Journal, as well as its foreign owners and certain officers, on...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

CLEVELAND, OHIO — Today, nine Cleveland-area physicians who provide health care to poor patients through the Medicaid program, and were blocked by state law from expressing their support for then-Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray in his...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

The Chandra Law Firm, LLC has been working to protect Ohioans' right to vote from voter-suppression efforts since 2006.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Caroline Gentry (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur)
937.449.6748 (o);...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

We won another important victory for voting rights, which are under increasing assault.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Caroline H. Gentry (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur)
937.449.6748 (o); 937.287.8983 (m); or

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

I serve as vice-chair of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association's Judicial Selection Committee. That committee is part of a coalition of bar associations that rate judicial candidates for the website

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

AKRON, OHIO - An Akron Beacon Journal retiree today filed a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to force Canadian media mogul David Holmes Black and the newspaper to restore promised...

Employment

AKRON, OHIO—U.S. District Judge David Dowd today issued a preliminary injunction against the Akron Beacon Journal and Canadian media mogul David Holmes Black, ordering them to restore prescription-drug benefits to retirees. He also...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Lawyers do not have the right to criticize the performance of the courts before which we appear. The right to free speech is the fountainhead of all of our other rights. If the judicial branch is free from criticism from those...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Following the Chandra Law Firm's $2,000,750 verdict in December 2008, the Village of Woodmere and Mayor Yolanda Broadie finally settled the case with former Village Police Chief LaMont Lockhart. Here are the key terms:
Mayor...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Chandra Law obtains $2,000,750 jury verdict for former police chief LaMont Lockhart against the Village of Woodmere and Mayor Yolanda Broadie for First-Amendment retaliation, and retaliation under federal and Ohio civil-rights...

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Subodh Chandra, leads his triplet sons and voters to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in the nonpartisan, nonprofit Vote Early, Vote Big! program that Chandra founded and chaired. The program inspired...